Anybody who is only slightly interested in big diesel trucks will know the heavy-duty Mercedes-Benz L-series. The L-series was built for a very long time. However, its pure and long-lasting design certainly wasn’t unique. There were more truck makers in Europe (and in other parts of the world of course) that built the same kind of rugged conventional trucks. The kind of trucks that could withstand Armageddon.

Mostly all wheel drive. Heavy-duty, durable and reliable under extreme conditions. With simple and clean looks, almost “naked”. No jewelry, no chrome, no wild graphics. One of these direct Mercedes L-series competitors was the last (1971-2003) generation of the Magirus-Deutz Eckhauber. Hauber is the German word for a conventional truck, so with a nose. In this case Eck means that the truck’s nose has sharp edges. And indeed, there also were Magirus-Deutz Rundhaubers, these were the conventional trucks with a more rounded nose.

Magirus-Deutz was the former bus- and truck division of the Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG company from Cologne, Germany. The division also built military trucks, fire trucks and other equipment for fire brigades. Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz (since 1997 officially called Deutz AG) is an engine manufacturer, founded in 1864. Currently the company builds water-, air- and oil cooled diesel engines. Their engines are everywhere, all over the world; as generators and in trucks, buses, farm- and construction machinery and equipment and in boats. The company’s most renowned specialty is building air cooled diesel engines.

The Ulm Minster

Magirus was founded in 1866 in the city of Ulm, Germany. The company built trucks and equipment for fire brigades. Magirus was taken over by Humboldt-Deutz in the mid thirties (from 1938 onwards Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz). The famous Magirus logo, introduced in 1932, is the letter M combined with the Ulmer Münster (Ulm Minster), the main church of Ulm with the world’s tallest church tower. The name Magirus-Deutz for the trucks was introduced in 1949, with the old Magirus logo prominently on the grille.

Of course, just like the Deutz farm tractors the Magirus-Deutz trucks also had the corporation’s own air cooled diesel engines, roaring loud and clear !

Eckhauber 4×4 dump truck with a 170 hp Deutz V6

Back to the Eckhauber. The last generation was introduced in 1971; its nickname was “Baubulle”, which means something like Construction (site) Bull, a pure workhorse.

They were available as 4×2, 4×4, 6×4 and 6×6 trucks and tractors. From 1978 onwards the Eckhaubers were only available as all wheel drive trucks and tractors with two or three axles, so as 4×4 and 6×6 only. The transmissions came from ZF.

In the first years power ratings started at 120 hp from a straight six engine and the most powerful Eckhauber had a 310 hp V10 engine (Magirus-Deutz also offered a 17 liter V12 in other trucks, but not in the Eckhauber).

Rebuilt and repainted air cooled Deutz V8 diesel engine, type F8L413

Deutz air cooled V6 engine, type F6L413V

The engines were four-stroke, air cooled and naturally aspirated diesel engines with direct injection. Later on the turbo chargers arrived. The V-engines, known as the Deutz 413-series, were available with six, eight or ten cylinders; respectively the F6L413 (8.5 liter), the F8L413 (11.3 liter) and the F10L413 (14.1 liter).

This one has a 310 hp V10, obviously its nose is longer than the nose of the red truck above with the V6 (Courtesy Baumaschinenbilder.de)

The longer the Eckhauber’s nose, the more cylinders it had. The six cylinders had the shortest nose, consequently the V10 had the longest nose.

Just like the Mercedes L-series the Magirus-Deutz Eckhaubers found their way all over the globe and were used in the most harsh road- and weather conditions. From the Sahara-desert to Siberia.

In my country (and in the rest of Europe) it was mostly used as an on-/off-road 6×6 dump truck. Again, alongside the Mercedes L-series and other contemporary conventional off-road trucks from MAN, Tatra and Hanomag-Henschel. Back then most of these 6×6 dump trucks were rated at 26 tons (57,320 lbs) GVW by the truck maker.

Eckhauber (with the name Iveco) 6×6 truck in deep trouble during the Overland Expedition

Meanwhile, further down south in Italy, Fiat founded the Industrial Vehicles Corporation (Iveco) in 1974. A merger between Fiat’s truck division and the small truck makers OM from Italy and Unic from France. A year later Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz acquired 20% of the Iveco shares (the Fiat Group owned the other 80%) in exchange for their Magirus-Deutz AG truck division.

In 1980 Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz sold their Iveco-shares to the Fiat Group, but the Eckhauber just soldiered on for many years to come. The name Iveco on the grille, but still the same last generation of Eckhauber Baubullen. Right until 2003, and then the curtain finally fell. A pure and long-lasting design indeed. And Deutz AG ? The company still has the old Magirus logo, the letter M combined with the tower of the Ulm Minster.

In German-speaking countries this is called a Dreiseitenkipper (Courtesy baumaschinenbilder.de)

And finally, a short video with an Eckhauber 6×6 dump truck with a 310 hp V10:

61 Comments

Thanks for this look at trucks that I am not very familiar with. Remarkable to think that this company was founded in 1864 by Nicolas Otto, the inventor of the modern internal combustion engine, and still exists as an independent entity. Now that’s corporate longevity.

I see Deutz aircooled diesel engines in various industrial settings from time to time. The concrete pumper I have used a few times has one.

I think I’ve mentioned before that my father had a vibratory compacting roller that was powered by a Deutz air-cooled V8 diesel engine. The roller was pulled by another piece of equipment, with the Deutz simply running the vibrator.

The color of the green truck is amazing – I’d thought that color was only available in yarn….

M-D tried to sell their engines in the US and they were available as an option on Diamond Reo trucks and, I believe, some Kenworths had V12s fitted. In Argentina Chevrolet offered them in their medium trucks. Ultimately none of this brought M-D the success it needed to establish itself on the Americas, where air cooling for large engines was very rare and never accepted.

There was the French Bernard with the Alstom V8 and 200hp; this was supposed to give Bernard a great leap forward but was a failure and I believe the reason why – after some liaison with Mack – Bernard went bust.

Since 1962 DECA built Deutz trucks and bus chassis that once bought, the owner sent to the coachbuilder of choice. Production stopped around 1978.

In the 90s El Detalle that was a coachbuilder for buses, urban mainly, decided they wanted to build the whole bus so designed a chassis with pneumatic suspension and chose MD engines to power their project.
The El Detalle OA101 was a booming success in the Argentinian bus market from 1987 to 2005. They even opened a plant in Brazil.
Today you can still hear the whistle of the air cooled engine in old El Detalles that remain.

Let’s not also forget the brazilian and argentinian Agrale line of trucks, buses, and minibuses that use MD for power, altough I think water-cooled versions.

I like the top photo with the woman in the cab, the Magirus gets the chicks!

I remember about 20 plus years ago my friend had a smaller Magirus truck sitting for export to Haiti in his terminal , we used to joke about the name calling it Maaaaaagi-rust, Magyrooos and “magic rust”, it was a tired old rusty truck, as most of the trucks that they exported to Haiti were, this was in the pre-internet era, so we had never heard of such a truck and had no idea what the hell a Magirus even was.

We visited Ulm during our summer vacation in Germany in 1981. Still West-Germany, or BRD, back then.

My mother climbed the tower of the Ulm Minster, all the way to the top, while her husband and two sons were relaxing on a café terrace at the other side of the Minster’s square. Hey…it was a hot summer day…

After a while some people, way up in the sky, were waving; so we decided to wave a bit too. No idea if my mother was among them. Kind of hard to see. After all, it is the world’s tallest church tower…

The Deutz air-cooled diesel was offered for a year of two in Chevy/GMC medium duty C-60/6500’s around 1986. Not many takers. The engines had a reputation for being reliable, but a headache when problems were encountered. Diamond REO probably installed more of them in the U.S. trucks then anyone else, but I did see a few from time to time in construction equipment.

I observed these air cooled diesels in Mack trucks back in the mid 80’s. A fully loaded concrete mixer got a warning from a MD state cop for speeding up a hill that few trucks made at the speed limit. North of Balt. on I-83, long steep hill most trucks at the bottom went 75 and by the top were lucky to be at 25. This air cooled diesel concrete truck started at 70 and kept it at 70 to the top. I wish I had one for my RV.

The Magirus-Deutz trucks were bought for their durability and outstanding off-road capabilities. As you may know the soil is very soft here, so you absolutely need a powerful AWD truck if you’re off the pavement a lot. Like a dump truck, obviously. No extreme weather conditions (temperature), so for that reason we didn’t need the air cooled diesels.

From my youth in the (early) seventies I remember the 6×6 trucks from Magirus-Deutz, MAN, Mercedes, Hanomag Henschel, Tatra and Steyr. Except for the Steyr trucks these were all conventionals. These brands were comparable in qualities and capabilities.

We also had our domestic Ginaf and Terberg off-roaders, back then these were still fully based on ex-military US trucks (REO) with a European diesel engine swap and a new steel cab.

The classic conventional Ginaf and Terberg 6x6s were look-a-likes. Diesel engines often came from DAF, although other brands were also used.

After the ex-military era the Ginafs were heavily based on DAF technology (cabs, engines, axles) while Terberg chose for Volvo components. Later on both brands also started to offer 8×8 and 10×8 chassis.

Remarkable is that the post-war DAF military trucks (designed from scratch) had Hercules gasoline engines. But IIRC that was a part of the Marshall Plan-deal.

Thanks for sharing, J.D. I love these big ass 4wd trucks that you guys have over in Europe. These have a very hardcore militaristic look that I simply love seeing. Makes me wonder why they don’t use awd rigs up here in the soggy northwest for logging operations. At least you don’t really see them, anyway. I know Western Star does make a 6×6 specifically for logging….it might see use only in the much then transfer the loads to ‘normal’ logging rigs.

This is the general type of rat rod Id like to own! Not only do I have an insane love of these old Willys, but the idea of stuffing a beastly German diesel in it…and air cooled at that…has a LOT of appeal. Ive never understood why aircooled engines haven’t caught on more. Less to go wrong, and ideal for certain climates.

It’s crazy how regulations drive a market, in the US you cannot get a COE unless you have connections (and not from every manufacturer), in Europe you need to go to a custom builder to have something like the IVECO Strator…

Oh I’ve heard about them – are those made by the chaps making the Strator?

Johannes Dutch

Posted December 8, 2014 at 11:08 AM

No, the DAFs were built by DAF-dealership De Burgh from Eindhoven. If you want one they build it for you. These are the first two, ordered by a company that wanted a successor for their old N-series conventional.

Air cooled engines are always louder than water-cooled ones, because the solid water jackets surrounding the block and heads attenuate the sound. And then there’s the cooling fan on top of that. Open up a VW engine compartment while it’s running…you can hear every mechanical part.

Thank You very much, Johannes – as a former truck driver I love to learn more about classic trucks. Are You familiar with Saurer and Berna? I once drove a 1981 Saurer 290 – one of the last civilian trucks they built before resorting to 6 and 10 DM army models. Someday I will write a couple of lines about Saurer, at least about the vehicles I have personal experience with. Increasingly merciless anti pollution regulations made it too expensive for companies to use older trucks in Switzerland for regular work – even on construction sites they got replaced with newer trucks. Pity!

I know Saurer from Switzerland, but unfortunately I’m not very familiar with them. As far as I know they were not officially imported here. I especially like their last conventional models from the late seventies / early eighties. We did have Steyr from Austria and Tatra from the Czech Republic though.

About your Fendt. I know several farmers who swear by a Fendt and absolutely don’t want a Deutz-Fahr. Their Fendt does have a Deutz engine though…. 🙂
Water cooled that is, like in the current Deutz-Fahr tractors.

The earplugs are a must when working with an air cooled diesel tractor, all owners got them close at hand in the tractor’s cab !

My memories are a bit hazy, but as far as I can remember I drove the one on the picture several times about 12 years ago. I stole the picture from the company’s homepage and I hope they don’t mind. There was a second one I drove many times during the year I worked for them. It had a modern 2.60 m cargo box but sadly it had to do without the cool spoiler below the bumper. My route led me through a hilly region called the Emmental – yes that’s where the cheese with the big holes comes from… (the place I took the picture with the Fendt is about 15 km away from the Emmental, where the hills become mountains) Climbing the hills and navigating the many curves gave me sore arms and legs during the first weeks. Everything on that truck meant hard work: the steering wheel had a big diameter for a good reason. It took serious effort to push the clutch pedal and moving the gear lever was not exactly subtle business. Driving the Saurer meant fighting the Saurer! Not a big deal on the Autobahn, quite a challenge on small country roads. If You want to feel like a real man (or woman), forget about sport or muscle cars. Climb behind the wheel of an old heavy truck like the Saurer and start up that diesel engine!

Looking good ! Those Trilex rims are very common in Switzerland, you never see them here.

Luckily I’m old enough (in this case) to remember the trucks from all those small manufacturers. Sadly too small to survive – the opposite of too big to fail – although they made trucks of the highest quality in those days. Büssing is one of those brands that comes to mind. Like this BS-series, introduced in 1966. This certainly doesn’t look like a 50 year old design to me. (Photo courtesy oudedaf.nl)

Gotthard

Posted December 6, 2014 at 2:22 PM

With a trilex wheel one could change a tire without heavy machinery somewhere in the middle of nowhere because the rim is segmented. It’s impossible to use tubeless tires though.

The Büssing looks very modern for the time! Could that be the engine behind the front wheels where one would expect the fuel tank? With the demise or takeover of smaller manufacturers, many unique and interesting engineering solutions also disappeared…

Johannes Dutch

Posted December 6, 2014 at 4:17 PM

Gotthard, must be a Büssing with an “unterflur” engine, they were famous for that. The Büssings with the engine under the cab had a full open grille, like all other cabovers.

Back in the 80’s me and a friend did some trading and export business in heavy trucks and machinery, mostly to Suriname and Cabo Verde, and these Magirus trucks where extremely popular overthere, we bought the then already older trucks, gave them a nice and cheap repaint, and on the ship they went, filled with tires and other parts. We even had a Conventional cab flatbed treuck for ourselves withe air cooled 8 cilinder engine we used for transporting smaller cars and machinery, very strong andd
Reliable trucks, ours in the end sadly burned down to the ground because of a diesel leak.
I should have some pictures maybe, but most of them got lost in a nasty divorce…..

Very cool, I remember these as a kid in Germany (and on visits of course.). I love these truck histories.

Great story about the Ulm Munster – My best friend while growing up in Germany’s Dad has a set of fantastic pencil drawings of a city skyline in his study. Years later during a visit back I saw them and asked him what they were of and he explained to me that HIS Dad drew them over many years – during the war (WWII) his assignment was to sit in the tower of the Ulm Munster and keep an eye out for bombers. He spent his time drawing these unbelievably intricate pencil drawings of the view in every direction from the tower.

About 15 years ago I was in a heavy truck
wrecking yard south of Hamilton Ontario,
looking to buy a high-deck 427 Chevy truck
engine core, to the use the .400 higher deck
of the truck block as the basis for big-cubic-inch
“stroker” big block Chevy race engine I working
on at the time. In the yard, along with the usual
assorted and expected “junk”, I came across six
brand new air-cooled Deutz diesel engines – 2
V12’s and 4 V8’s – covered in shrink wrap and
sitting on pallets. They had obviously been
intended for a truck application of some sort
(perhaps from a canceled prototype or
experimental project from one of the OEM
‘big truck” manufacturers??), rather than for
stationary or industrial use because they all
had clutches attached and the 4 V8’s had
SAE-type bellhousings with equally brand new
ten-speed Road Ranger transmissions bolted
to them.. I had heard of Deutz air-cooled diesels,
but I had never actually seen one up close before.
Out of curiosity I asked the yard owner about
them and he told me he had purchased them a
week before, as a lot, at a surplus equipment
auction, mostly for the ten speed Road Ranger
transmissions, but before that, he wasn’t sure
where they had come from or what type or make
of truck they had originally been intended for. Very
interesting engines though, particularly the V12’s!